axle video launch the browser based ingest tool Cam

axle Video has launched some very clever products over the last few years, especially their asset management systems. Their latest product is an ingest application called Cam

axle video has just announced Cam, an automated camera ingest tool. Priced at $995 for two licences, this browser fronted application works by ingesting and converting camera card structures placed in watch folders.

We think the ingesting of camera media by using FCPX is a pretty hard workflow to beat. But there are times when non-editors get tasked with ingesting media on to shared storage and that will probably include transcoding and the generation of low resolution proxies.

axle Cam has been designed to make that process a lot easier.

"axle Cam is the missing link between the camera and the computer," says axle Video CEO Sam Blogoch. "It eliminates the countless hours video professionals now spend in processing and organizing camera files before they can be used by others."

"DSLRs and video cameras generate dozens of files and folders, which, for the majority of users, are needless clutter," notes Blogoch. "It leads to more workflow steps, more errors and misplaced shots, and less time for creativity. axle Cam provides an elegant, automated solution. It cleans up incoming files, makes H.264 proxies, grabs the metadata, and displays it in a browser/mobile interface."

Will this appeal to the single self shooter/editor? There are other cheaper standalone ingest tools as well as the NLE route. So no, probably not, but as the front-end ingest solution to augment axle's other tools it looks an ideal way to get camera originals onto the system. Users can then browse the media on mobile devices and add metadata. It also provides a way of ingesting for multiple different NLEs in a shared storage environment.

Not all formats are supported yet, although here are plans to add the higher-end camera codecs in the future.

Media files supported

MOV/MP4 – Samsung NX1 H.265, any format playable by QuickTime Player or plug-ins

MXF – Sony XAVC (XAVC-L, XAVC-I)

Canon XF

DVCProHD, AVC Intra

ProRes

MPEG-2

DNxHD, VC-3 (when DNxHD QT component installed)

SRcam (when SRCam QT component installed)

MTS/M2TS (AVCHD)

H.264 – AC3 Audio, LPCM Audio

M2T – HDV-style M2T streams (MPEG2 video with MP2 audio)

More information about axle products can be found on their website. axle Cam can be preordered on their store.